Historic soccer club Bury on Tuesday became the first team to be expelled from the English Football League (EFL) in more than two decades after a takeover bid collapsed.
The two-time FA Cup winners, who only a few months ago were celebrating promotion to the third tier, lost all hope of salvation when a takeover bid fell apart shortly before the 4pm deadline.
The club from northwest England are the first to be expelled from the league — comprising all the divisions below the top-tier Premier League — since Maidstone United in 1992.
Bury’s historic rivals Bolton Wanderers — one of the founders of the EFL, but who have been in administration since May — won some breathing space when they were given 14 days to find a buyer.
However, for Bury the bell has tolled on their time in the EFL, ending more than 100 years of participation that yielded two FA Cups and produced players like former Manchester City and England great Colin Bell.
Ironically, Bury, who became the first FA Cup winners to be ousted from the league, and Bolton were due to face each other in a televised match on Sunday next week.
Bury are the first team to be expelled from the third tier of English soccer. The remaining 23 teams are to complete the season and only three instead of four teams would be relegated.
“Today is undoubtedly one of the darkest days in the league’s recent history,” EFL executive chair Debbie Jevans said. “I understand this will be a deeply upsetting and devastating time for Bury’s players, staff, supporters and the wider community.”
The writing had been on the wall for Bury after a roller-coaster day for fans and employees alike, when C&N Sporting Risk withdrew its takeover bid offer to Steve Dale, who had bought the club in December last year for £1 (US$1.22).
C&N said in a statement that it was “unable to proceed” with the bid and hinted that Bury’s problems ran deep.
“We will be happy to work together with the EFL to share our findings to help them with their ongoing review of football governance,” it said.
“It is essential for the long-term future of all members of the EFL and the broader football family,” it added.
SSC Napoli’s Italian Serie A title hopes suffered a late setback on Sunday when they were held to a 2-2 draw at home against Genoa, setting up a thrilling season finale with closest rivals Inter just one point behind. The hosts remain top with 78 points, holding a slim lead over Inter, who won 2-0 at Torino earlier on Sunday, with two rounds remaining. To make matters worse for Napoli, midfielder Stanislav Lobotka, struggling with an ankle injury, was forced off just minutes after the match began. Scott McTominay delivered a perfect pass into the box where Romelu Lukaku got
Harry Kane opened the scoring ahead of lifting his first career silverware as Bayern Munich beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-0, with veteran Thomas Mueller playing his last home game for the club. Bayern officially won the title on May 4 when defending champions Bayer Leverkusen were held to a 2-2 draw at Freiburg, but were presented with the Bundesliga shield in front of their home fans at full-time. Dripping wet after being showered with beer by teammates, Kane said the title win was “an incredible feeling,” and hoped it would be “the first of many.” “It’s been lot of hard work, a lot of
INTER AWAIT: Superb saves by PSG ’keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma inspired the victory, as Arsenal were punished for misses, including one by Bukayo Saka Arsenal on Wednesday fell short on the big stage again as their painful UEFA Champions League semi-final exit against Paris Saint-Germain left Mikel Arteta to rue his club’s failure to provide him with enough attacking options. Arteta’s side were unable to reach the Champions League final for the first time in 19 years as PSG clinched a tense 2-1 win at Parc des Princes. Trailing 1-0 from last week’s first leg in London, the Gunners made a blistering start to the second leg, but could not convert their chances as Gianluigi Donnarumma’s superb saves inspired PSG’s 3-1 aggregate victory. Arsenal were punished for
Taiwanese e-sports veteran Lin “ET” Chia-hung yesterday successfully defended his King of Fighters XV title at this year’s Evolution Championship Series: Japan (EVO Japan), securing his second consecutive championship. Lin claimed victory with a 3-1 win over Japanese pro gamer “mok” in the grand final, repeating his earlier 3-1 win against the same opponent in the winners’ final. The 40-year-old earned a ¥1 million (US$6,897) cash prize at the two-day tournament, which drew 294 competitors. Mok, Lin’s toughest rival in the bracket, took home ¥400,000 as runner-up. Lin remains undefeated in match sets against mok in King of Fighters XV, holding a 10-0 record,